StevenGuthmiller

Okay. Not going to argue with you, but I'm also not going to play the "political correctness game" and walk on egg shells in fear of offending someone with every comment. If you're offended, it'll just have to be that way. Steve

Getting a start on the engineering required to mate the Revell Charger chassis parts to the Coronet body. As you well know, this is probably the most important procedure when combining these sort of parts between kits. Screw something up now and you pay for it down the road. Steve

I'm not really seeing anything noticeable. If there is, it's not pronounced enough to warrant any extra attention. Steve

Ever heard of a joke?

Very clever........but I wouldn't know. Steve

The only "reality" television that I watch occasionally is "COPS", or "The First 48". That's about all that there is that's actually "real". The ones that really bug me are those stupid talent shows, like "American Idol", "The Voice" and "Dancing with the Stars"! Biggest waste of airtime ever! I'd rather watch Viagra commercials!! ? Steve

Correct. A "guber" is a peanut. A Gruber is a professor of economics from Massachusetts who brought us Obama Care. I prefer the legume. Steve

I'll have to remember that for next time! Thanks Claude! Steve

Exactly my point Joe. Nearly every television network has abandoned any thought of producing any programming of substance in favor of this sort of "fast food" debris that's plastered all over the airwaves now. I'm reminded of some lyrics from A Pink Floyd song. "I got 13 channels of sh^t on the t.v. to choose from." We've obviously made great advancements since the 1980s. Now we have over 600 channels of sh*t to choose from! Steve

I agree with you that the majority of these cable channel's programming no longer reflects their names, and I suppose if you can get past the fact that a show like Pawn Stars is wholly contrived and spends large portions of the show analyzing the lives and minds of the morons that work there, you could say that there is some history tucked in there somewhere. Even the food channels have pretty much abandoned actual cooking shows in favor of "contest" programs one after the other. Why? because they're cheap to produce and apparently somebody is watching them. Steve

Thanks Tim. The real work is going to come with removing the convertible top wells, widening the rear seat and continuing the door card upholstery pattern into the rear passenger compartment. Everything else will be gravy. Steve

Thanks George, but I have the original hood, and the "blower cut out" doesn't really scare me. I didn't really have any issues with it on my '69 and I would rather work with plastic over resin whenever possible. Steve

I know Ed. Just tugging on your chain a little. Steve

My only question is, whatever happened to shows about actual "history" on the History channel. These stupid, so called "reality" shows have little to do with reality, and zero to do with history in almost every case. Almost every network on television is taking advantage of the fact that they can produce these idiotic reality shows for next to nothing when compared to the cost of producing programing that actual requires some innovation and thought, and every dunce on the planet will tune in to watch other dunces dysfunctional lives. It's the return of the brainless daytime talk show, like the Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones shows. Snack food for the vacuous mind. Steve

Thank you David! Steve

Thanks fellas! Steve, I've really began to focus a lot of my attention on interior upgrades in the past couple of years. The vast majority of these old kits have pretty scant interior detailing, and I've begun to find it very rewarding to try to get them a little closer to a modern kit detail level. Once you get past the fear of cutting up a vintage kit interior, it really starts becoming quite a fun experience! Steve

I am always more than happy to help in any way that I can. Good methods should be shared with every hobbyist. And believe me, these techniques are not my own. Nearly everything I have learned in my modeling career has been learned from someone else. My job is just to pass them along to anybody who wishes to know them. Steve

I appreciate that guys! I wasn't really sure how this build was going to turn out, or whether or not I was going to really like it when finished, but now, I'm seriously considering ditching the '68 Coronet build that I had planned, in favor of a '64 Pontiac Bonneville convertible that I have waiting in the wings! Steve

I likely won't be making too many alterations to this body, except for possibly the most glaring inconsistency, which strangely enough, Ed neglected to mention. This would be the crease, or ridge evident on the door panels just above the door handles. This doesn't exist on the 1:1 and needs to be removed. Other than that, the rest is close enough for me. Steve

That's just plain inexcusable!! This just puts the cherry on the sundae for me! Send me crappy recasts of the original parts that I sent you for replating and I'll personally drive to your house and stomp on your throat! You can count me out! Steve

Looks pretty good to me! In my opinion, this is really the only way to do small scripts and badges if you want them to look really nice. With many kits, especially vintage kits, there is not, and probably never will be, the option of using PE scripts and there's only so much you can do with paint, especially with the very small and delicate scripts. I use both methods on the same script with great results. I use the conical swabs first. This loosens the paint and takes it off of the high points. Then I come in with the sharpened tooth pick dipped in lacquer thinner to clean up the edges of the already loosened paint. This step will give you more "relief" around the perimeter of the script making it look more like it's sitting on top of the surface rather than embedded in the paint. The secret is to be very stingy with the lacquer thinner to prevent any "bleed" onto the other body surfaces. Take your time and repeat if necessary and you'll get great looking scripts every time. Also, the less paint that you need to remove from the script the better, so applying the foil just before the final color coat and removing it right after, will be the easiest approach requiring a lot less effort than trying to remove multiple coats of primer and paint. Once you get the hang of it, it's relatively easy to get nearly perfect results, even on the faintest and tiniest scripts. My latest attempt on the old AMT 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix had me a bit worried because it's so faint and small, but with caution it went just as well as any other script that I've attempted regardless of size. Another good tip is to detail any scripts containing color with a small brush after cleaning the paint off initially and then repeating the same technique for the added color. I then spray my clear coats on after this process to seal and protect the scripts and badges. Steve

I've used this method a few times for smaller items such as interior carpet protectors, but nothing as large as seat or door panel upholstery. I would imagine that it might work for tuck and roll, but you might have to apply more than one coat to the mold as the acrylic paint shrinks considerably when dry. It will be flexible when dry, but it can also be quite fragile and fairly easily cracked. Steve

Terrific Russ! Apparently, there was a model contest in past years at the Spud Valley Hobby Show, (Plastic on the Prairie) sponsored by the local IPMS chapter, (Red River Scale Modelers) but I have not been able to verify that anything of the like will be taking place this year. See what you can find out. I would be interested in making an appearance if I'm not the only guy who shows up with a few model cars! Steve

Yeah, I noticed that, but that's really not worth freaking out over IMO. Way too minuscule of a detail to justify messing around with it. I'll be far too focused on removing the convertible "well" detail and replicating the rear door panel trim to mess with something that inconsequential. Steve

I'm quite happy with the paint on my '64 Pontiac Grand Prix. Steve